A good, budget, gaming computer?

[WUKONS]

Hi there,
Last time I here asked for opinions, all went well, friend with gaming build are happy.
Now I want to build one BUDGET gaming PC for myself.

Google'd around and found out that for gaming and only gaming (sometimes PS and Notepad++) I really don't need an Haswell i5.

So the question is, for which budget combo should I go to get same fps in gaming as 4670K do?
Is it some cheaper i5? Or even i3 can do the job?

In a few words: I'm looking for a Good and Cheap Intel gaming computer.
Thank's in any advice.

 

[ssddx]

if you have about $600 to spend (tower only with os included) or $520 (tower only if you already have a valid OS) you can build a fairly decent respectible amd system similar to:

amd fx-8320 (just need to wait for it to go on sale again for $135-140)
970 chipset motherboard (allows some o/c)
2x4gb 1600 (or 1866) mhz ram
1tb hdd
r9-270x dual or tri fan gpu
cheap mid-tower case
500-550w psu

if you absolutely must have intel expect to pay at least $50-100 more

yes you can play some games on an i3 however generally its not recommended. an i5 is best for gaming since its powerful enough to play games yet not as expensive as the i7 (which has hyperthreading which games dont really need).

the amd fx-8320 if overclocked just a tad is similar to performance of a stock i5-4670k.

if you did not want to overclock you could go with an i5-4670 (no k suffix) to save a few dollars and just buy a non z87 board (h87 is good though you can probably drop way down to a h81 if you did not want any of the extra features). there are also lower end i5 models that you could definitely choose from. i would go this route over dropping to an i3. also you could go with last gen ivy bridge (i5-3570k and related chips on the z77/h77 chipset motherboards) however its not much of a price savings .

 

[kamilstoch]

Just want to mention that you will save money on power consumption if you go Intel. That and cooler temps.

 

[ssddx]

completely true... intel chips have better performance, temps and power consumption but they are also more expensive. on a semi-low set budget this means skimping out on other components which would result in a lower end system. sure you would have an i5 chip which is better but if you cant play the games you want to play was it really worthwhile?

going amd allows a stronger video card to be purchased for the same price with only a (relatively) minor hit to cpu performance.

up to the OP if they want to think about my option... or if they really want to pursue intel.

we arent even sure what the max budget is yet....

 

[WUKONS]

Thanks for Your comments.
And yes, I really want to go with Intel, it will last longer - on P5K3D/Q6600/4GB DDR3/9600GT already almost 6 years and still can play something.

Budget is something around $ 680

Right now looking on:
Msi B85-G41 PC MATE
Intel Core i5-4670K, Quad Core, 3.40GHz, 6MB, LGA1150, 22nm, 84W, VGA, BOX
Asus R9270X-DC2T-2GD5, Radeon R9 270X, 2GB DDR5 (256 Bit), HDMI, DVI, DP
Kingston HyperX 2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC CL9 DIMM Plug n Play - (1.5V)

That's already budget threshold without PSU and case (I can go with old ones for a while "If I don't need some kinda 'Haswell ready' PSU").
If I go with 4670K then I can't take any Z87 motherboard, seems like no point for 'K' on H87 or lower.. especially B85.
Any ideas what to do? On what to save up a bit?
Slower/older card will perform shitty and no-name memory will help the crappy card perform shitty.

Thanks again.

 

[ssddx]

its a myth that somehow intel will "last longer"

there are plenty of people out there on amd systems too that are several years old and which still play games dont forget.

just because intel chips have the edge right now doesnt necessarily make amd bad. (remember that the higher end amd chips are similar to i5 performance)

--

since you wanted intel:

notes:
- motherboard doesnt have SLI support but does have Crossfire and is z87 for overclockability
- memory is not low-profile so it will have issues with coolers (can always wait for gskill sniper to go on sale and use that instead) but its fast and cheap.

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/30797 $612

HOWEVER, that is before a video card. any video card for $70 is going to be rather low end and not worth sticking in the system. even a $150 card is only going to get you low or medium levels

...addition

to comment on the below build for amd... if you had $720 for an intel build... you would still only have 108 (or 122 for if you reused the cdrom) for a video card. this will only give you a 260x/7770ghz/650ti which is good for the low preset on games like bf4.


---------------

if you went with an amd build this is what you could get...

note: i deleted the cdrom drive... i figured you could reuse what you had.

i went over budget by $40 but i consider that money well spent

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/307kD

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2013/11/27/battlefield-4-performance-analysis/3

a single 270x can likely play even new games such as battlefield 4 at ultra at 1080p provided you turn AA down a little or at very solid framerates at high. this would be a vast improvement on what you can get with an intel system.

-----------------

HOWEVER....

if you are able (or if you want to) re-use your old hard drive (if it is sata) you could gain an extra $50 to put towards a graphics card.

that would give you about $178 if using the intel build which could get you a 750ti which would give you playable settings on ultra or high for new games like bf4 however not quite the same as you would get from a 270x. also keep in mind that the motherboards listed arent SLI enabled (though they do support crossfire) which makes amd gpus a better option (or upgrade to a motherboard which does support sli...)

another thing to keep in mind is amd's mantle
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/mantle/Pages/mantle.aspx


edit:

also realize the above builds list an operating system in the costs.

unless you own a retail copy of windows which is transferrable (oem versions are tied to your motherboard) i will assume you need an os.

------------------

please list your thoughts, concerns and input.

 

[WUKONS]

Sorry for the late reply, but I was broke for a while.
Turned out, I need this build for work too, not just Gaming. Tomorrow I'm receiving the following 'build':

Zalman Chasis Z3 PLUS White Midi Tower (with window, without PSU, USB 3.0) + 2X Arctic F12 (120x120x25)
Asrock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer
Intel Core i7-4790K + Arctic MX-2 Thermal Grease 8 g
A-Data XPG V2 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz CL9, Thermal Conductive Technology
Corsair CX 750W, 80 Plus Bronze, 120mm fan

It is better to clean the cpu cooler default 'thermal compound' and install new, right?
Hoping that next weekend i can afford an R9280-DC2T-3GD5.
There shouldn't be any bottleneck, right?

Thanks for all your answers.

 

[ssddx]

you can most certainly use the pre-applied thermal paste if you wish. the difference is normally not that huge compared with the other pastes you can buy. most of us pc geeks however tend to apply our own pastes because we have a certain good history with a certain brand or we like to get temperatures a few degrees colder just because we can. its optional.

an r9-280 asus direct cu ii is a good choice. i recently just bought the gtx770 asus dciii model and it is certainly quiet under load.

one thing i would like to note is that the psu you picked is junk. the CX series uses cheap capxon capacitors which have been known to explode if you push them too hard. now, since you bought a rather hefty sized psu for your build you will likely not have such issues i would still recommend something else.

one of the following would be my suggestion in anything from 550-650w

seasonic
xfx
corsair HX or AX only
antec HCG

or in general anything tier 2b and above. you can get away with tier 3 but it would be best to have something quality.

yes, technically the cx is listed as tier 3 however this is often hotly disputed and generally agreed that it should be lower in rank.

this is an example of what i mean by risk if the psu ever gets pushed to hard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj8-wNmYJvM

 

[WUKONS]

Thanks for reply man.
I see, I took that PSU because of cable management and of course because of the price.

Now wondering what you meant by "pushing PSU to hard".. I think I can't do that with the above mentioned system + that r9-280,
like you said "now, since you bought a rather hefty sized psu for your build you will likely not have such issues".

And yeah, that youtube example looks sad.
I guess warranty should take care of it/and any other components which was damaged while that PSU blew up.

 

[ssddx]

you can find quality units with modular cables around the $60-80 price range.

by pushing it too hard i meant putting too much of a load on it. keep in mind that often cheap units cannot output their rated wattages and also that just because it is rated at 750w total doesnt mean that the internal components can handle a hefty load on the individual rails.

thats exactly the point.... if your power supply fails in a bad way it can take your whole system (or at least part of it) with it when it goes and that is not covered by warranty and would be all out of pocket. the warranty covers only the psu itself and not any components it takes down with it.

this is why we stress very pointedly (or at least most of us do) that its very important to get a quality unit even in cheaper builds.

now... will you have issues? likely not however i most certainly can not guarantee that. i have used cx units before in a low end build and it has been perfectly fine however that was for a $320 build so there was not much choice. it is however oversized and is never going to see hard use so its less of a risk. due to your power requirements and it being a 750w unit my gues would be that you will see no issues but i'm just making you aware that its a high risk unit.

 

[WUKONS]

Okay, since PSU warranty not taking care of other components I'm going to contact i-shop and ask for different PSU.
Can you suggest any other manufacturers? In the shop I'm buying components I can't see xfx or antec, but seasonic and corsair HX/AX not that cheap.
The list they have are following:
ACC
Aerocool
Bequiet
Chieftec
Codegen
Cooler Master
Corsair
Enermax
Eurocase
Fortron
Gembird
Gigabyte
HP
Hedy
IBOX
IN WIN
Lepa
Logic Concept Technology
Modecom
Ocz
Seasonic
Spire
TRACER
Tacens
Take Me
Tecnoware
Whitenergy
iTec

Since quality are more important than cable management it can be without it.
How about Chieftec? I own one Chieftec 700W PFC for like 6 years and having no problems, only weird thing happened like month ago, i shat down pc and psu was still going. So, how about Chieftec PSU CTG-750C ?

Edit: The (Bequiet Pure Power BQT L8-CM-630W, 80 plus BRONZE, activePFC, 4xPCI-E) costs same as CX750M.

Thanks again.

 

[ssddx]

any models specifically listed at tier 2b or above on this list are "good" https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx while some of the tier 3 units are "okay" however some are questionable like the CX. you do not want to use tier 4 or 5 at all.

take a look at the list and compare it to the ones you listed. specifically look for the model not just the brand.

you can sort through the list of brands to see if any pop up under 2b or higher if you want.

seasonic is typically great to go with. some of the higher end corsairs have decent internals but they are not cheap. you might want to look at enermax as they seem to have some items in the tier1/tier2 classification.

a good number of those brands however are tier 4/5 junk with a few being questionable tier 3

----

as i said before... you could very likely use the cx and have no issues just as you had no issues with the chieftec which is also a low end brand to my knowledge. however, its a higher risk so caution dictates me to recommend something else.

it is your choice on whether you find the risk acceptable or not.

 

[WUKONS]

Okay, thanks a lot, I did look around, as I understand the Corsair TX series PSU's are good.
So, I think I'm going for "Corsair TX750 V2 80 PLUS Bronze, ATX 750W, EU version" and it's only 17EUR more.
I'll be back as soon as I boot my new system, that may be in next weekend or something.
Thanks again.

 

[WUKONS]

Okay, they don't have that one.
I took Seasonic M12II Bronze 850 850W 80 Plus Bronze retail, looks good and by googling around I found that it's Good.
Later.

 

[WUKONS]

Hi, I'm back, the system running nice, only the Zalman case fans seems loud to me, even with the Z3 Plus lower setting on (fan controller).. have one factory scratch on side window too, kinda disappointed.. But everything else, went smooth.
Now trying to decide between R9280-DC2T-3GD5 and R9280X-DC2T-3GD5.
Are the X worth an extra 45 EUR? (45EUR = ~half of an SSD price.)
Thanks again.

EDIT: I just read that GTX 770 outperforms the R9 280X?? :O